PUTRAJAYA:
Malaysia has launched a nationwide campaign to plant 26 million trees
by 2014 to commemorate Earth Day on Thursday.
Natural
Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas launched
the campaign, carrying the theme "Green the Earth: One Citizen, One
Tree", here.
The
26 million trees represent the estimated 26 million population of the
country.
Some
16,200 saplings were planted during the launch, with 500 planted at a
site in Precinct 5 opposite the Putrajaya International Convention
Centre (PICC) here.
The
other trees were planted at selected sites in Alor Star (Kedah), Kangar
(Perlis), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Seri Iskandar (Perak),
Bachok (Kelantan), Kemaman (Terengganu), Pulau Melaka (Melaka),
Seremban (Negeri Sembilan), Kulai (Johor), Temerloh (Pahang), Esplanade
(Penang), Hulu Selangor (Selangor), Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) and Petra
Jaya (Sarawak).
The
types of tree planted include the cengal, cempaka, keruing, balau and
kalumpang.
Uggah
said the 26 million trees would be planted in stages and the process
would be monitored by the relevant departments and agencies under the
ministry.
"It
is estimated that 38,470 hectares of denuded and logged forests,
coastal areas and urban centres will be planted by 2014," he said
during the launch, which was also attended by Deputy Natural Resources
and Environment Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.
Uggah
said the campaign was in line with the Government's efforts to ensure
that at least 50% of the country had forest cover in accordance with
Malaysia's commitment made at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in 1992.
The
forest cover currently was 56.4%, but if agricultural areas were taken
into account, the acreage would rise to 75% of the total land area, he
said.
Uggah
said it was estimated that at the end of the campaign, in 2014, some
200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide would have been absorbed due to the
trees planted.
This
figure was expected to rise if the planting continued nationwide, he
added.
In
KANGAR, Perlis State Secretary Datuk Mohd Zabidi Zainal represented
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu in leading the people at
planting karas saplings in Sungai Batu Pahat near the state capital.
Going
by the population of Perlis, more than 250,000 trees will be planted in
the state by the end of the campaign period in 2014.
In
reading out the Menteri Besar's speech at the event, Mohd Zabidi asked
for the people's cooperation in the tree-planting campaign to make it a
success. - BERNAMA
April
24,
2010